The present invention relates to medical imaging. In particular, a positron emission tomography insert unit is provided.
Medical imaging techniques and processes are used to create images of internal features of humans, animals, and other objects. The images are used for clinical purposes, such as examining and diagnosing disease or injury, as well as medical science, such as studying normal anatomy and function. Medical imaging includes, but is not limited to, magnetic resonance tomography (“MRT”) or imaging (“MRI”), positron emission tomography (“PET”), and computed tomography (“CT”). Hybrid modalities, such as PET-CT and MRI-PET, are gaining increasing importance in medical imaging. The hybrid modalities combine two different imaging methods into one piece of equipment and can be used to perform separate scans for each individual method or integrated scans to create superimposed images.
However, the utilization of the individual components of hybrid modalities is highly different. For example, fewer PET scans are usually performed compared to CT or MRI scans. Also, PET scans occur at very limited times because the half-life of the radiopharmaceuticals used for PET scans, such as Fluorodeoxyglucose, (“FDG”), is very brief (e.g., a few hours). Because of this, expensive PET components may be unused most of the time at client sites.
One approach is to mount hybrid systems, such as PET-CT scanners, on a truck and drive them from client to client. However, in this case, the CT scanner, which is used frequently, is only available to a client at a certain time. Therefore, clients are then compelled to purchase a separate CT scanner or wait for the next time a hybrid system is available.